The long epic records all the major historic events of greatest importance for the Kirgiz people and crystallizes their traditions and beliefs.

UNESCO: Culture

For example, scientists can tell by the way ice crystallizes what the weather and temperature was like thousands of years ago in ice core samples from polar regions.

FORBES: New Study Shows Independent Evidence Of Global Warming

The director, Chantal Akerman, films the story as a flashback from a scene of violence that crystallizes the clash of cultures on which the drama runs, and which she captures in images of ecstatic power.

NEWYORKER: Almayer's Folly

As John Dewey observed, it's only in private conversation that political opinion crystallizes, as people absorb the words they read or hear from on high and incorporate the ideas they stand for into the stories they tell about politics and their lives.

NPR: 'Talking Right': Why the Left Is Losing, Linguistically

As the old saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, and Mitt Romney picked -- his pick of Paul Ryan tells you something about his own economic beliefs -- ones we knew, but this solidifies it and crystallizes it even more.

WHITEHOUSE: The White House